The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there have been two main strategies to delivering correspondence; senders will be necessitated to create their mail to some Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post in the community. In order to distinguish himself, and to make his presence known, the Bellman might wear a uniform and sound familiar.
It was at 1852 the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed to the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were attached to Jersey to try out the new system.
The success in the experiment generated yet another four being placed on Guernsey, one of which now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing around the mainland as of 1853.
However, there were to date no universal pillar box design with which were currently familiar. Design and manufacture was on the discretion of local authorities, and it what food was in 1859 that attempts were designed to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits became the favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the initial included the addition of the protruding cap to shield the contents from your elements.
As of 1859, this area ended up being be accessible in two sizes; a more substantial and wider size for highly populated areas, and a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes failed to receive universal acclaim. It was against the backdrop for these criticism the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to generate another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this was not just a huge success and so, another design came in 1879. This final design will be the one in which we're used to today. letterboxes for apartments It was 2 years ahead of this that this iconic red colour from the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before on this occasion, the most well-liked colour option was green so that you can blend in with the green British pastures. However, following a barrage of complaints how the structures were to hard to locate because of their camouflage, it absolutely was agreed that bright red was the best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for about a decade.
For people at large, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capacity for sending and receiving mail easily. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, individuals were afforded access to your delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.